The local skydiver's death has left a stain on the community.RCMP were called to Eden North around 7:30 p.m. Saturday when it was reported that John Scott, an instructor at the parachute school, had been found unresponsive on the ground following a jump.

There's still a good chance that he made a successful jump but was mugged, struck by an off road vehicle or bitten by rattlesnakes. Or a combination of them.

Humor and snark aside for a moment, autopsies also discover (for example) if there was something floating around in the deceased's system that shouldn't have been there. If a parachutist goes *splat*, then the direct cause of death may have been the impact, but if the parachutist had been drugged prior to jumping, then that may be a contributing cause to the death, and merits its own investigation.

Humor and snark aside for a moment, autopsies also discover (for example) if there was something floating around in the deceased's system that shouldn't have been there. If a parachutist goes *splat*, then the direct cause of death may have been the impact, but if the parachutist had been drugged prior to jumping, then that may be a contributing cause to the death, and merits its own investigation.

From eye witness reports (not found in that article, but found online at dropzone.com), it was a hook turn, in which he was trying to swoop an aggressive canopy. You don't need drugs or anything else to mess up one of those - they're tricky.

Humor and snark aside for a moment, autopsies also discover (for example) if there was something floating around in the deceased's system that shouldn't have been there. If a parachutist goes *splat*, then the direct cause of death may have been the impact, but if the parachutist had been drugged prior to jumping, then that may be a contributing cause to the death, and merits its own investigation.

From eye witness reports (not found in that article, but found online at dropzone.com), it was a hook turn, in which he was trying to swoop an aggressive canopy. You don't need drugs or anything else to mess up one of those - they're tricky.

Humor and snark aside for a moment, autopsies also discover (for example) if there was something floating around in the deceased's system that shouldn't have been there. If a parachutist goes *splat*, then the direct cause of death may have been the impact, but if the parachutist had been drugged prior to jumping, then that may be a contributing cause to the death, and merits its own investigation.

From eye witness reports (not found in that article, but found online at dropzone.com), it was a hook turn, in which he was trying to swoop an aggressive canopy. You don't need drugs or anything else to mess up one of those - they're tricky.

Skwrl:From eye witness reports (not found in that article, but found online at dropzone.com), it was a hook turn, in which he was trying to swoop an aggressive canopy. You don't need drugs or anything else to mess up one of those - they're tricky.

/1,400 jumps.

Then all the easier to disguise a murder attempt, you see. Someone who wanted him dead couldn't have picked a better jump to slip him a mickey and throw off his concentration just enough to ensure failure.

I don't believe that's what actually happened, but the possibility existing is one of the reasons why autopsies still need to be performed on "obvious cause of death" situations. Otherwise, it would be far easier to get away with murder. Need someone bumped off? Drug them loopy, plant a suicide note, then set them free to wander around in traffic. "I didn't kill Larry, your honor! He was despondent and wanted to get hit by a Peterbilt! I had nothing to do with it!" Lacking an autopsy proving that Larry was drugged -- and therefore a contributory cause to the death -- that lame excuse could work.

BKITU:Skwrl: From eye witness reports (not found in that article, but found online at dropzone.com), it was a hook turn, in which he was trying to swoop an aggressive canopy. You don't need drugs or anything else to mess up one of those - they're tricky.

/1,400 jumps.

Then all the easier to disguise a murder attempt, you see. Someone who wanted him dead couldn't have picked a better jump to slip him a mickey and throw off his concentration just enough to ensure failure.

I don't believe that's what actually happened, but the possibility existing is one of the reasons why autopsies still need to be performed on "obvious cause of death" situations. Otherwise, it would be far easier to get away with murder. Need someone bumped off? Drug them loopy, plant a suicide note, then set them free to wander around in traffic. "I didn't kill Larry, your honor! He was despondent and wanted to get hit by a Peterbilt! I had nothing to do with it!" Lacking an autopsy proving that Larry was drugged -- and therefore a contributory cause to the death -- that lame excuse could work.

Well, sure, an autopsy should be done. I'm not arguing against that. However, you're describing a chain of events that are exceedingly unlikely in this case.

Let's imagine you drugged me before I got onto the plane, and it took the 20 or so minutes ride up to altitude for it to kick in. I'm then feeling weird. As an experienced skydiver, if I feel "weird" or "lightheaded" the last thing that I'm going to do it exit an aircraft in flight. (And yes, I've had something like that happen - one time during peak allergy season, I took a "non-drowsy" over the counter allergy medicine. Possibly due to reduced air (air is thinner at 13,500 feet MSL), I found myself feeling "just a little off". I wasn't "woozy" or "lightheaded"; it was far more subtle and less intense than that. Nevertheless, I rode the plane down and took the rest of the day off of jumping. Now, imagine I only felt woozy after leaving the plane. What would my response be? Pull high and fly my canopy conservatively. Take it easy. Don't try to pull off a high performance landing. The opposite of what was done here. He was a very good canopy pilot, but even very good canopy pilots can "hook it in" as the saying goes (called that because they engage in a series of sharp turns to build up speed, which allows them to swoop - skim along the ground at high speed only inches above the ground at landing...)

So sure, autopsy away. But my point is that given the observers on the ground, I think that's a pretty damn unlikely cause.

Skwrl:So sure, autopsy away. But my point is that given the observers on the ground, I think that's a pretty damn unlikely cause.

It has nothing to do with what was a *likely* cause.

It has everything to do with what was a *possible contributing* cause.

Occam's Razor is a wonderful tool, and it's precisely why I think the death was just a freak occurrence with no malice aforethought. All I was doing was explaining why autopsies are still performed in situations where the immediate cause of death is obvious -- it's because there may be contributing causes that would require further investigation, if they exist. If they eliminate other contributing causes... great! The death was just an unfortunate happenstance and nobody was murdered. If they prove other contributing causes... OK, now we have to figure out who has responsibility for the death, and whether there was malice aforethought, and so on and so forth, but it's a starting point just in case there was some kind of criminal activity.

Also, this line:

"Let's imagine you drugged me before I got onto the plane, and it took the 20 or so minutes ride up to altitude for it to kick in. I'm then feeling weird. As an experienced skydiver, if I feel "weird" or "lightheaded" the last thing that I'm going to do it exit an aircraft in flight. "

... is speculation, overconfidence, and hubris. You're stating in absolute terms that you would make a rational decision while under the influence of some unknown substance, and/or that you would know how you would react mentally to every possible foreign substance in your system. I don't give Shiat One how many jumps you've made -- you're not omniscient. Don't pretend you are.